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How early should I get to Raymond James Stadium for a concert?

Enter the showtime, say which lot, and see when to leave and when to start getting ready.

Try it with your own show

  1. Tap the showtime and set it to the one on your ticket.
  2. Tap any duration and change it to how long that step really takes you.
  3. Every start time shifts so you can see when to leave and when to start getting ready.
Showtime
15 min Final pack & check 5:15 PM
20 min Drive to the venue 5:30 PM
15 min Park & find your spot 5:50 PM
20 min Walk in from the off-site lot 6:05 PM
15 min Wanding & screening 6:25 PM
10 min Walk up to your section 6:40 PM
10 min In your seat for the opener 6:50 PM
Showtime 7:00 PM

Show night at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida. Not sure which time on the ticket matters? The concert night plan covers doors, opener and headliner at any venue.

Want this on your phone? Ready Time sends an alert when it’s time to start each step.

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Ready Time

You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.

Travel time to Raymond James Stadium

The 20-minute drive is a typical run from Tampa without show traffic (the optimistic number). In the app, set Raymond James Stadium as the destination and Apple Maps fills in the time from where you’re leaving.

Home Raymond James Stadium
🚗 20 min
🚗 Drive 🚶 Walk 🚴 Cycle
20 min Drive to the venue

Then add for show night: every car aiming at the same entrance (real drive to Raymond James Stadium). Change the row and every step before it moves.

Raymond James Stadium seen from outside, in Tampa, Florida.
Photo by Devin Morris, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for this page.

What the time on the ticket means

The time on the ticket is when the first act is due on. Seating here is reserved, so nobody is racing for a spot; the deadline really is the show. Aim to be in your seat ten minutes before the first act, and budget the walk to your row: it is the part people misjudge, not the drive.

Most stadium tours also sell a general-admission floor or pit, and that ticket is a different evening: the queue for a place at the rail forms outside long before the lots open. The plan here is for a numbered seat.

Here is the evening drawn to scale. A maps app can number the drive. The rest is the walk in from the lot, the bag check, and the walk to your row.

Front door to your seat: 1hr 45min

  • Before you leave 15 min
  • Getting there 35 min
  • The lot and the walk in 20 min
  • Gate, stairs and seat 35 min

Getting to Raymond James Stadium

There is no rail here, so Dale Mabry Highway and the interstates do the work and the surface roads around the stadium do the rest. The venue pushes Waze for live closures and posts road news on its own account on show days. Afternoon storms are common enough in the warm months that the walk in from the lot is worth a glance at the forecast.

Downtown Tampa near sunrise, seen from across the Hillsborough River.
Photo by Alvesgaspar, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for this page.

The lots, and the walk in

The lots are the stadium’s own, about 10,000 spaces on site and another 15,000 off site, first come first served, cashless at the gate, with prepaid passes through ParkWhiz for some events. Prices and which lots are open change with the event. So does the opening time: it is posted per show on the venue’s events page, and the one concert with a time listed as this was written opens its lots four hours before the show. Every car is subject to search on the way in.

On site or off site is the decision. The lots around the building are the short walk and the ones that fill first; the off-site lots are the reliable fallback and roughly double the walk.

Rideshare drops and pick-ups are at Steinbrenner Field across Dale Mabry, and the venue warns that the pick-up spot can move for some events, so check its page before the show. There is a mass transit drop-off on the north side of the stadium off Dale Mabry next to the pedestrian bridge, which taxis and buses also use.

The gate, the bag, and the stairs

This is a no-bag stadium, for every event. One clutch no larger than 4.5 by 6.5 inches is the only bag that comes in, and it does not have to be clear; anything bigger is refused even if it is.

Lockers are rented for a small fee along Tom McEwen Boulevard just southeast of the Suzuki Marine Gate, which saves the walk back to the car, and nothing is held for you at the gates. Everyone is wanded. There is no re-entry except in a medical emergency, and a parking pass does not get a car back into the lot either.

A tailgate moves the whole evening earlier

Tailgating is allowed in the lots and plenty of people make an afternoon of it. Add one and the plan puts in setting up, eating and packing the car before the walk in, which means leaving the house that much earlier.

The stadium’s published tailgating rules: one 10 by 24 foot space per car, no saving spaces, no amplified sound, nothing blocking a walkway, and no kegs or glass. They are written for game day, so check your event page for anything that differs. Recreational activities in the lots, throwing a football and the like, are not allowed.

Doors, lots and bag rules change; the official site is the live source.

Save this Raymond James Stadium plan in Ready Time and it tells you when to leave and when to be in your seat.

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Ready Time

You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.

Common questions

How early should I get to Raymond James Stadium?

The plan's floor is the gate thirty-five minutes before the show: screening, the walk to your section, and a few minutes in the seat. Your seat is reserved, so nothing is lost by not being there the moment the gates open.

The venue’s own advice is to arrive early and avoid the last-minute rush: everyone is wanded at the gate and a bag you did not expect to lose costs a walk to the lockers or the car before you join the queue again. The walk from the lot depends on which lot you got.

What time should I leave for a 7:00 PM show at Raymond James Stadium?

About 5:30 PM from Tampa with a 20-minute drive and a spot in one of the off-site lots. Later for one of the on-site stadium lots, earlier for a tailgate. Every row above is editable; the first travel row is your leave-by time.

How does parking work at Raymond James Stadium?

They are stadium lots, around 10,000 on site and 15,000 off site, first come first served and cashless at the entrance, with prepaid parking through ParkWhiz for some events. Prices and the lots in use vary by event, and the opening time is posted per show on the venue’s events page; the one concert with a time listed as this was written opened its lots four hours before showtime. Tailgating is allowed in the lots under the game-day rules. The official Raymond James Stadium site has the current lots.

How long is the walk from the parking lot at Raymond James Stadium?

Under ten minutes from the on-site lots around the stadium. Allow twenty from an off-site lot, more if the lot is across Dale Mabry and everyone is crossing at once. The plan's default for one of the off-site lots is 20 minutes, and it is editable.

Can I take a bus or train to Raymond James Stadium?

No rail reaches the stadium. The venue publishes a mass transit drop-off on the north side off Dale Mabry Highway, next to the pedestrian bridge, which buses, taxis and limos use. Rideshare is at Steinbrenner Field.

What bag can I bring into Raymond James Stadium?

One clutch no larger than 4.5 by 6.5 inches, and it does not need to be clear. No other bag is allowed, clear or not. Lockers can be rented along Tom McEwen Boulevard, southeast of the Suzuki Marine Gate, for anything that does not fit the rule. Nothing is held for you at the gates, and there is no re-entry except in a medical emergency.

Going to a game instead? The stadium pages. Flying in? The airport pages.

Share one leave time with everyone on the trip

Whoever is driving sees the same 5:30 PM leave-by that you do, not just the showtime on the ticket.

They tap once, and every step gets its own alert on their phone.

👥 Shared by Rosa
🎧 Show at Raymond James Stadium
15 min Final pack & check 5:15 PM
20 min Drive to the venue 5:30 PM
15 min Park & find your spot 5:50 PM
Showtime 7:00 PM
🎧 Show at Raymond James Stadium
15 min Final pack & check 5:15 PM
20 min Drive to the venue 5:30 PM
15 min Park & find your spot 5:50 PM

Build it once, then use it every show

Ready Time keeps the plan and subtracts again when the show time changes. Put in the next ticket and the same steps land on new times, with an alert on each one.

Ready Time 5:15 PM
Final pack & check. Showtime in 1h 45m
Ready Time 6:05 PM
Walk in from the off-site lot. Showtime in 55m
Ready Time 6:50 PM
In your seat for the opener. Showtime in 10m

Alerts when it's time to start

Get a nudge at the right moment, while there's still time to act.

Each step gets its own alert, so you know what's next and how long you have.

The countdown to showtime, on your Lock Screen

Start the plan in the app, and the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island show the time left, with a bar that fills as each step passes.

Glance at it on the walk in without opening the app.

Live Activities are part of Premium, a one-time unlock.

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Ready Time

You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.

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